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Jeff LaPoff
Jeff LaPoff was a contestant on Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 10th place. Personality Jeff was hot-headed and always giving excuses for his constant and careless mistakes, often causing arguments with his teammates. Of note,his teammates were very annoyed by his attitude as he was always looking to be the center of attention, his kidney stones being the best example. However, when he realized that he did not have the attention that he wanted, he decided to leave the show by himself. He had a short-lived feud with teammate Chris, after the latter confronted him about his attitude. Season 1 Episode 1 The twelve contestants arrived in Hell's Kitchen and celebrated with a champagne glass and getting to know each other. After some time, Maître D’ Jean-Philippe and Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann greeted them, revealing that their first test began now. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Jeff was the ninth contestant to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and called it an extremely important opportunity as he quit his job just to be there. He served a steak with sauce and mushrooms, and while the sauce was deemed nice, the mushrooms were salty and the steak was overcooked. So, Ramsay ranked it 1 out of 10. After the challenge, he was placed in the red team, along with Chris, Elsie, Jimmy, Dewberry, and Carolann. During dinner service, Jeff was assigned as a waiter. He was relieved to be out of the kitchen and was confident to work with people because he was doing that for a living. However, he struggled a lot as he was confused on where the right tables were in the dining room, never knew what to do or how to answer customers questions. None of his customers liked him, even some of them complained that it was the worst service they ever had. At one point, he was confused whether he had to hand his ticket over to either Jean-Philippe or Ramsay, but Jean-Philippe told him to give it to Ramsay. Of all his tables, 2 out of 3 walked out early. When he went to the hot plate ready to give his ticket to Ramsay, he was shut down by him telling he was not ready to take another order. He revealed that he was trying to appease his tables due to the long wait, but they were in no mood. Eventually, Ramsay shut down both kitchens. When looking over the comment cards, Jeff was disliked by everybody, and after telling Ramsay that it was a horrible experience, Ramsay reminded him ironically that he wanted to win his own restaurant. The red team lost the dinner service and Elsie was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he confined in Wendy that he might be going home because all his tables hated him. Jeff was not nominated for elimination, leading Ramsay to tell him he dodged a bullet. Episode 2 Back at the dorms, Michael told Jeff that he lucked out for not being nominated, with him saying that he had one more day to prove himself, and Ralph asked him what he was making for Elsie tomorrow for breakfast. While he knew Ramsay wanted him nominated and possibly eliminated, he knew that Ramsay would be looking for improvements now. The next day, at 5:55 AM, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann went in the dorms with cookware and banged them together to wake up everybody, with Dewberry originally thinking it was somebody with a gun. While most of the chefs came downstairs, Jeff knew was not a good feeling to see the blue team all ready and complete, while Ramsay was shaking his head at the incomplete red team due to Chris being late. During the Squid Cleaning Challenge, he was seen getting one of his squids accepted, and the red team won the challenge 6-5. They were rewarded with a dinner with, and prepared, by Ramsay. During the reward, he asked Ramsay how he could manage all the restaurants he opened, with the latter explaining that he had a phenomenal team that he led for 10 years. Later that night, was the only one not sleeping as he was suffering from a kidney stone, and was lying in the hallway in pain. When Jessica approached him to ask if he was okay, she touched him on the back, and he fell further on the ground. She did not feel any sign of worry, as she felt he was kind of a hypochondriac. The next day, he revealed that he had a previous history with kidney stones, and called it the worst timing, but Andrew wished him well. During dinner service, Jeff was on the garnish station. He struggled a lot on that station, especially with the timing as the meat and fish sat on the hot plate, but the vegetables were not ready, forgetting the spinach needed for the entrées. So, Ramsay got in his way, trying to motivate him, but all he did was lament about his abdominal pain. Then, he sent up burnt spinach, Ramsay called him a donkey, and ordered him to throw the garnish away. Then, Elsie admitted that she selfishly wanted him to come through, and did not have the time to feel sorry for him. His team lost the dinner service as very few entrées were served, one of their tables phoned for pizza delivery, and Jean-Phillippe was physically assaulted. Chris was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he told Chris that he was doing fine until his kidney stone problems got in the way of his performance. Jeff was Chris' second nominee for elimination, with Dewberry being the first. During his plea, he said he was a team player, and that he had the heart and commitment, even though Ramsay called him a shit cook. He survived elimination, and while being dismissed, he felt embarrassed that Ramsay called him a shit cook and hoped that he was never nominated again. Episode 3 Back at the dorms, finally managed to pass his kidney stone, and showed everybody his kidney stone, but nobody was impressed as they found it small. Even Elsie thought that it was a joke, and Jessica compared it to a little mustard seed. Before the 5-Course Meal Challenge, Jeff and the red team welcomed Michael as a new teammate. When the red team had their meeting onboard the double decker bus, Chris had no faith in him as him has not proven his stuff. While shopping for their ingredients, he annoyed his teammates, especially Elsie, as he was shopping by himself instead of being a team member, and Chris got annoyed by the fact they had to stop every time for him to catch up. Despite his slow movement, along with making Elsie’s hair stand up, the red team managed to get their food to the cash register in time. During the cooking, Michael was skeptical about his soup idea. He was the second person from the red team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Ralph on the hot appetizer round. He made a white onion soup garnished with parmesan and roasted garlic crouton, and it was praised for turning something boring into something delicious. So, he tied that round with Ralph, and Michael was impressed that he pulled out a win. The red team won the challenge after a tiebreaker at 3 each, and they were rewarded with a night out with Ramsay at the bar, with drinks and a darts game. During the reward, he was lightly teased by his teammates after getting a dart stuck on the wall. During prep, Jeff left a hot sheet on the counter and Elsie picked it up, burning her hand in the process. That angered Chris, who told him to put a towel over it, and after Elsie said not to leave something hot out that they did not know, Chris felt that everybody was losing their patience with him. During a short break, the red team minus himself gathered to discuss him as Michael expressed concern how well they would work with someone they all shared animosity towards. Moments later, Elsie went to go get him to join them, and he Chris got in a heated argument about his behavior, dismaying Elsie as they could not afford to fall apart. Moments before opening, he was still struggling to get organized when very few of his stuff was ready, so Chris and Michael had to help him out. During dinner service, Jeff was on the appetizer station. After he brought two lobster spaghetti dishes where one had no lobster in it and the other had too many, Michael helped him redoing the dish. He blamed the fact that he has never been on a line before, which led to tempers flaring with Sous Chef Mary-Ann and Chris. Ramsay immediately had to calm the situation down. However, he eventually impressed the critics in the dining room with his lobster spaghetti. Then, he told Ramsay that he needed five minutes on the lamb, and Ramsay lost his temper by telling him he asked for four minutes, saying that he would not follow his requests as nobody would be served. Then, Ramsay accused him of doing what he wanted, and ordered him to move his ass. Later, Ramsay asked him if he was running his station or if Michael was doing it for him, which he answered Michael pushed him to the side. Ramsay declared he was getting worse as the competition was going on, but he reminded Ramsay it was his first time on the line. So, Ramsay pulled him to the side and schooled him on his attitude. After that, he declared he was done to Chris, who tried to convince him to come back. After declaring to Ramsay he was not a quitter, the latter, annoyed by his arrogance, tells him he's not a cook either, leading him to call Ramsay an asshole underneath his breath. However, Sous Chef Mary-Ann heard him and told him to repeat what he said, so he went to Ramsay, called him an asshole, took his jacket off and walked out of Hell's Kitchen for good, pissing Chris off as that was not a cool move. His exit interview never aired, and he received the comment and jacket hanging at the end of the episode. Ramsay's comment: "Jeff, well, I had to laugh at the end when he called me an asshole. I've been called far worse than that!" Nomination history Trivia *He is the first contestant ever to withdraw from the competition without being eliminated, and the first to do so during dinner service. *He is the first contestant ever whose exit interview was never aired (in fact, he only had a few interviews throughout 3 episode until he left). *After his departure, Ramsay confronted him in the parking lot, which led him to sprain his ankle. There was a mention "Jeff LaPoff decided to leave the show due to an injury." at the beginning of the end credits of that episode. *He was originally going to take Mary Ellen's place for the final dinner service, but he did not, so Dewberry took her place. *After his appearance on the show, he became a used car salesman, before returning to his career as an Allstate Insurance agent. Quotes *"I'm very good with people, I work with people on a daily basis." *(To Chef Ramsay) "If you don't like me, I don't know what to tell you. YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!" *(To sous chef Mary-Ann) "What do you want me to do?! I've never been on a FUCKING line before! I'm doing it, I'm trying!" *(When he quit) “Send my ass home. I've had enough of this shit.” Category:Chef Category:Season 1 Category:New Jerseyans Category:Quitters Category:10th Place